Homework 3 - Kunal Sharma 19423678 Homework#3 1 The planet...

Kunal Sharma 19423678Homework #31. The planet is composed of four layers: the thin crust, the mantle, the inner core, and the outer core. From that, the earth is composed of rock and metal. The core, mantle, and crust make up for 15%, 84%, and 1% respectively. Through the eruption of lava, patterns within the rocks of the crust are created and deposited. This causes a fusion, solidification, and crystallization of rock particles. Through plate tectonics on this continent floors and ocean basins, the 12 large, major plates have moved around through the history of time. The collisions that occur between the plates create mountain ranges. The plates under the continents are larger than the plates under the ocean. There is a boundary between the crust and the mantle which is called the Moho. The mantle itself is 100km to 200 km below the earth’s surface. The upper mantle is composed of the molten rock that accounts for the eruption of volcanoes which the tectonic plates sit on. The upper mantle is made of dense and less dense crystallized minerals that have been affected by high temperatures and pressure. The lower mantle is made of iron and magnesium minerals that get denser in relation to the depth. The outer core is liquid while the inner core is believed to be solid. Because the core cannot be studied directly is it presumed to be composed of a combination of iron, oxygen, sulfur, and/or nickel. The techniques used to come to these conclusions come from the paths of waves from earthquakes traveling through the earth along with experiments of surface minerals at high temperatures and pressures. The study of the Earth’s motions in the solar system, gravity and

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